Holy Mass in Piazza Boscovich, Rimini

On Sunday, 29 August, 1982, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in Piazza Boscovich, Rimini. In his homily, the Pope reflected on the reading from Psalm 14 [15], “Who will live in your tent? / Who will dwell on your holy mountain?”

1. “Who will live in your tent? / Who will dwell on your holy mountain?” ( Ps 14 [15], 1) the Psalmist asks, in today's liturgy, of the God of Israel and the God of the alliance.

And to this question he receives this answer:
- Behold, on the holy mountain will dwell "He who walks without fault, / acts justly and speaks loyally, / does not speak slander with his tongue" ( Ps 14 [15], 2-3).

- On the holy mountain, in the tent of God will live the one who “does not harm his neighbor / and does not insult his neighbor. / In his eyes the wicked is contemptible, / but he who fears the Lord honors” ( Ps 14 [15], 3-4).

- On the holy mountain, in the tent of God, will dwell, finally, the one who “Even if he swears to his own harm, he does not change; / that he lends money without usury / and he does not accept gifts against the innocent. / He who acts in this way - concludes the Psalmist - / will remain steadfast forever” ( Ps 14 [15], 4-5).

There are therefore two dimensions with which the Psalmist judges the works of man: a dimension that is in man himself and is conscience, which, through the inner voice seeks the certainty of good and evil. The second dimension is in God, and is the prospect of the holy mountain on which every man climbs, guided by him with the appeal of the commandments and called, at the same time, by the voice of conscience. He rises according to the rhythm of his righteous and worthy works. In the opposite case he descends below and there is no place for him in the holy tent of God.

2. Thus today's liturgy speaks to all of us gathered here. This is how he speaks to the inhabitants of the city of Rimini, the diocese and the surrounding areas. Thus he also speaks to those who have come here from different parts of Italy and from different European countries. In fact, Rimini is a well-known tourist centre, particularly in summer.

The responsorial psalm of today's liturgy thus becomes a particular greeting, to each and every one.
 

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Welcome is he who climbs the mountain of the Lord!
Welcome to all of you who are gathered here for this Eucharistic celebration!

Willkommen, wer hinauf will auf den heiligen Berg des Herrn!
Willkommen ihr alle, die ihr euch zu diesem Gottesdienst eingefunden habt!
 

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Yes, this liturgy is aimed at French-speaking people, families, traveling or on holiday in this hospitable region, who are welcome here!.

Oui, these liturgies are addressed to people, to families of the French language, on voyage or in repos in this region hospitalière, here are the welcome ones there.
 

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I also greet the English-speaking visitors present at this liturgical celebration: may the love of God pour into your hearts!
 

My greeting goes with particular affection to the Bishop, Monsignor Locatelli, to the clergy, to the men and women religious and to the pastoral workers: it then extends with deference to the civil authorities and wishes to reach all those present.

Each of you, wherever you come from, to participate in the Eucharist this evening, carries within you deeply engraved that invitation and that call which leads you towards the holy mountain, to the House of the Lord.

Life passes, from day to day, between different commitments and entertainment, between rest and contact with nature - here with the beautiful Adriatic Sea -. . . and this invitation, this call is constantly inscribed in the whole of our existence.

This invitation to encounter God passes through man's intimacy and resonates in his conscience. The longer man lives with it, the more deeply he scrutinizes it, the more he becomes aware that that invitation to the holy mountain, to the house of God, does not lead him outside of himself. In fact, it identifies, more deeply, with what each person is and with what, ultimately, he aspires to.

Therefore I greet you, dear brothers and sisters, in the wake of this invitation. Thank you for coming. I myself come here to meet with you, following in the footsteps of the liturgical Psalm, and to respond to God's invitation that works in each of us.

We must meet, as Christians, in the Eucharist. Even if we know each other only fleetingly, we must recognize each other very deeply "in the breaking of bread" ( Lk 24, 35).

3. “For what great nation has divinity so near to it, as the Lord our God is near us whenever we call upon him?” ( Dt 4, 7).

Celebrating the Eucharist means: witnessing the closeness of God. We can say: the penetrating closeness of God!

He who lives on the holy mountain, He towards whom we pilgrimage with our entire existence, obeying our conscience and carrying out the works of our life, is, at the same time, penetratingly close.

He is close with the nourishment of Bread and Wine, which we receive with our mouth, to welcome, with our soul and our heart, him, the Living God.

“And what great nation has such just laws and regulations as all this legislation which I lay before you today?” ( Dt 4, 8) Moses asks the Israelites pilgrims from the slavery of Egypt towards the Promised Land.

And Christ similarly asks, indicating the Gospel of grace and Love: "Listen to me, all of you, and understand well: there is nothing outside of man which, by entering into him, can contaminate him". . . Instead "all evil things come out from within and defile man" ( Mk 7, 14-15.23).

4. So therefore we are invited to reflect once again, in the presence of the Eucharist, in the presence of God who is close in such a penetrating way, on the problem of good and evil.

Perhaps this is contrary to our wishes. Perhaps we have come to this place of rest to be as far away from this problem as possible, to forget the good, and particularly the bad that is in the world and in ourselves.

However, man cannot escape anywhere from himself. He cannot separate himself from the world that, in some way, everyone forms.

Resting does not mean separating from yourself. Indeed, resting means meeting with yourself and reconciling with your inner being. Only then do we truly rest.

The invitation that comes from Christ leads to the Eucharist. Only before the Eucharist, by participating in it, can we meditate on the question of good and evil, without giving in to dejection, but strengthening ourselves in hope.

5. Let us reflect, once again, with greater attention, what is the world that the word of the liturgy outlines before us on today's Sunday.

Yes. It is the world in which good is separated from evil, and is opposed to it, by the very will of God.
This will was expressed in the words of Moses, as reported in the first reading:
“Israel, listen to the laws and norms that I teach you, so that you can put them into practice. . .

You will not add anything to what I command you and you will not take anything away. . .

You will observe them. . . and you will put them into practice because that will be your wisdom and your intelligence in the eyes of the people. . .” ( Dt 4, 1-2.6).

Good is opposed to evil, and evil to good, by the will of God himself.

The only place in the world where this contrast becomes an experienceable reality is the depths of man.

Christ says: “Indeed, from within, that is, from the hearts of men, come evil intentions, prostitution, theft, murder, adultery. . .” and he continues to name a series of transgressions and faults.

Man is therefore called to judge his interior, to scrutinize his heart and to form a mature conscience within himself.

If man is called to the holy mountain, if he is invited to the Eucharist, then this invitation contains, at the same time, an appeal for him to analyze his inner being with the gaze of faith and with the light of the Gospel.

God is close to each of us in such a penetrating way, so that in each of us evil is separated from good and so that evil is eradicated, so that good is strengthened and takes root more deeply.

6. Yes. The reality that is proposed to us by the words of today's liturgy is the world of good and evil. Evil is opposed to good, good to evil. And all this happens in man.

However, today's liturgy proclaims, at the same time, the primacy of good.

Here we read:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above and comes down from the Father of light, in whom there is no variation or shadow of change” ( Jas 1:17).

Yes. In God there is no variation or change. There is no opposition between good and evil.

God is Good itself.

Today's liturgy not only invites us to meditate on the question of good and evil in man and in the world.

It invites us to look at our entire reality - that of man and that of the world - in the light of God!

Then the primacy of the good is reconfirmed.

In fact, God is Good itself.

God is the Gift.

Behold, "of his own will he begot us with the word of truth, so that we might be as the firstfruits of his creatures" ( Jas 1:18).

God is the Father of the gift.

And God is, in this gift, the Father of man.

We must therefore look at man and the world in which man dwells in the light of God.

7. Then those "man's resources" that have been talked about so much over the past few days will be fully revealed to us, right here in Rimini.

It was a very timely initiative, profoundly consistent with the word of today's Eucharist. In times that seem to bring with them a growing tension between good and evil, we must look at man and the world within the horizon of the Primacy of Good.

Such a gaze must be communicated not only to all the participants in the meeting in Rimini, but also to all those who now participate in the Eucharist: to the inhabitants of Rimini and to all those gathered here.

Man can face the horror of evil, indeed he can overcome evil only by strengthening within himself the testimony of the Primacy of Good.

The testimony that Christ gives us, once and for all.

On the basis of this testimony, extraordinary human resources are also revealed.

8. And therefore allow me to repeat again at the end of this reflection, the phrases of the letter of Saint James the Apostle, which we heard read today:
“Receive with docility the word that has been sown in you and which can save your souls. . .
Be those who put the word into practice and not just listeners, deluding yourselves" ( Jas 1, 21-22).

May the invitation you have accepted contribute to the renewal of your "religiosity", both in the "ontological" and "ethical" sense. According to the words of the apostle James himself, let this be the "pure and spotless religion before God our Father". It is expressed in "helping orphans and widows in their afflictions": this is what the apostle writes ( Jas 1:27). How many afflictions there are in today's world, and how many men, our brothers and sisters, who bear the weight of these sorrows!

Finally, this "pure and spotless religion" could be defined in modern language: mature Christianity from an ontological and ethical point of view, which is expressed in "keeping oneself pure from this world" ( Jas 1, 27).

Should we then talk about the fear of the world, about escape from the world?

No.

It is only necessary to be aware that the Father "of his own will begat us with the word of truth" ( Jas 1:18).

And he generated us in the world:
“so that we might be like the first fruits of his creatures”.

So that, throughout creation, even in this difficult contemporary world, the Primacy of Good may be renewed through our faith and our service!

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Liebe Mitchristen deutscher Sprache! The biblischen Texte der Eucharistiefeier, die uns hier versammelt hat, ließen mich über den Gegensatz zwischen Gut und Böse sprechen. This is in Urlaub genau so aktuell wie zukause. Denn only in der Entschlossenheit zum Guten bin ich ganz ich selbst. And in this Entschlossenheit erfahre ich Gott, der mich zum Guten verplichtet und der mir zum Guten hilft. In ihm sind wer stärker als alles Böse!

Dear German-speaking brothers! The biblical texts of the Eucharistic celebration that brought us together here give me the opportunity to talk about the contrast between good and evil. This is as relevant on holiday as at home. Because only in deciding for the good am I fully myself. And in this decision I experience God who commits me and directs me to do good. In him we are stronger than all evil!

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Chers Frères et Sœurs, la Parole di Dieu s'adresse aujourd'hui à la conscience de chacun d'entre nous, pour nous faire désirer le bien, nous faire retrouver éventuellement le chemin du bien, nous convaincre que, avec l'aide de Dieu, le bien peut et doit l'importer sur le mal. There is good practice, with the conscience and the words of God, here you have the true religion, here women à l'homme know their dignity, they know their maturity, here they are healthy and here they know the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Word of God is addressed today to the conscience of each of us, to make us desire good, to eventually help us rediscover the path of good, to convince us that, with God's help, good can and must overcome evil. It is the practice of good, known through conscience and the Word of God, which makes true religion, which gives man his dignity, his maturity and which saves the world.

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Dear brothers and sisters, today's liturgy brings us face to face with the good and evil in man's heart. Strengthened by the Eucharist, we must take courage from the guarantee given in God's word that good will conquer evil. What is at stake is man's freedom, his dignity, his destiny. Let us be doers of the word, and not hearers only.
 

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